Scaffolding

Heaney’s poem opens with a first-person speaker describing the work of “[m]asons” (Line 1): workers who use stone for construction. The speaker relates how when masons start a new project, they are very “careful” (Line 2) while conducting the scaffolding—the temporary structure used in the construction of buildings. This task creates the extended metaphor of Heaney’s poem. The masons are meticulous “to test out the scaffolding” (Line 2) to insure it’s security prior to making use of it. Scaffolding also refers to support educators provide their students for moving from one level of knowledge to another.

The speaker details how masons inspect their scaffolding. Even though the subject is not explicitly stated in the second stanza, readers can infer that the masons are still the implied subject. The masons ensure that the “planks” (Line 3) of the scaffolding don’t “slip at busy points” (Line 3), meaning they check to make sure that the most traveled portions of the scaffolding are secure and stable so workers won’t fall while using the scaffolding. In addition to checking the planks, the masons double check that all “ladders” (Line 4) are “secure” (Line 4) and that all “joints” (Line 4), or locations where building elements meet, are “tighten[ed]” (Line 4). Joints connect two parts and allow space for freedom and movement so that a structure can shift without causing damage to the whole. Checking the “bolted joints” (Line 4) is therefore essential to the integrity of the masons’ work. However, the masons don’t want the joints to be too tight, lest it impede the movement of the scaffolding.

In the third stanza, the speaker skips ahead in the building process. While in the beginning, the scaffolding materials are put up, at the conclusion of the project, “all this” (Line 5), or all of the scaffolding, “comes down when the job’s done” (Line 5). With the building completed and the construction accomplished, the masons no longer require the assistance of the scaffolding. They remove that support system. When the scaffolding falls away, the finished “walls” (Line 6) of the building look like “sure and solid stone” (Line 6). The scaffolding has done its job, allowing the masons to complete their work in constructing a safe and sturdy structure. Without the scaffolding, this construction would not have been possible.

In the fourth stanza, the speaker turns from describing the masons’ work to addressing their audience. The recipient of the speaker’s message is not simply the reader. Rather, the speaker writes to either a lover, close family member, or a friend, as evident by their use of the intimate address “my dear” (Line 7). They speak to their beloved friend or family member using the hypothetical “if” and “sometimes seem” (Line 7). The speaker conjures possible scenarios that they or the individual to whom they are writing might occasionally consider. These scenes consist of “[o]ld bridges” (Line 8) between the speaker and their audience falling apart and disintegrating. These hypothetical situations involved the bond or connections between the speaker and their beloved dissolving or weakening.

Yet, despite the horror of these possible scenarios, the speaker advises his “dear” (Line 7) to “[n]ever fear” (Line 9). They offer these words of encouragement because even though the “scaffolds fall” (Line 9) around them and come down, the two of them can easily and securely rest. They can remain “[c]onfident” (Line 10) in the fact that they have solidly “built [their] wall” (Line 10) together. The “wall” (Line 10) here is not a literal structure; rather, it is symbolic of the solid nature of what has been constructed between the pair. At the conclusion of the poem, the speaker asserts the strength of the structure they have constructed with their beloved.